HOCKEY

HOCKEY; Yes, Devils Are Scoring, but Not So Smoothly

By ALEX YANNIS,

Published: November 11, 1992

WEST ORANGE, N.J., Nov. 10—
Herb Brooks kept looking at the league statistics in near disbielief as he sat in his office at the Devils' training facility after practice this morning.

"Look at our stats," Brooks exclaimed. "How many people have been scoring even-strength?" he asked rhetorically.

The answer is Randy McKay, a man many consider to be a role player. He has five goals, all at even strength, including the overtime winner at Hartford two weeks ago.

"The power play has been carrying us," Brooks said about the Devils' eight victories in the first 14 games. "The power play is an integral part, but we have to get some five-on-five scoring. If our even strength is not there, we can have a lot of trouble."

Claude Lemieux and Bobby Holik lead the Devils in goals with six each, but each player has scored only once at even strength in the team's first 14 games. Of course, the five goals each by Lemieux and Holik that have come with the man advantage are also a sign of the Devils' punch on the power play.

The Devils (8-6-0) are ranked second in the league behind Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins in power-play efficiency, with 20 of their 50 goals coming when they have a manpower advantage.

With the exception of Stephane Richer, who has four goals, only one on the power play, none of the Devils' proven goal scorers has been productive at even strength thus far.

That development concerns Brooks and his assistants, Dave Farrish and Doug Sulliman, as does the lack of scoring by the Devils' defensemen.

Brooks and his assistants don't expect offensive production from Ken Daneyko, who holds the franchise record with more than 1,400 career penalty minutes, but they do expect scoring from the other five regular defensemen, who constitute what is widely viewed as one of the most offense-oriented defenses in the league.

Scott Stevens leads the defensemen with three goals thus far, but two of his goals have come on the power play, where he sees duty as a forward, primarily planted in front of the net.

Brooks wants his defensemen to play closer to his forwards when the Devils have possession of the puck and he wants his players to be more involved in front of the opposing net.

"We've been a little too idealistic," Brooks said in analyzing the way his team has been playing in the attacking zone. "There is a little too much action in the outer perimeter. We've got to get down and dirty on some things, and we've got to find people who can do it, find the right combinations."

Brooks will try more new combinations of players when the Montreal Canadiens, 11-3-2 with 10 victories in their last 11 games, visit the Devils Wednesday night. Dave Barr, for instance, will replace Aleksandr Semak at center, with Richer on the right and Valery Zelepukin on the left.